Only Human and Razor's Edge
by Crush48
Summary: After Arcee botches the operation of a New York Mob Boss, she is subsequently caught in a trap that leaves her humanized, and her actual cybertronian body missing. Virtually useless in the base, she learns what it's like to be human while waiting for her body to be found. Second Story Arc: Razor's Edge.
1. Chapter 1

Transformers Prime

**A/N: These are gonna be som short stories about Team Prime turned into humans. Got this idea based on the G1 episode, "Only Human". Also Arcee's 'humanized' appearance as a human is based on the cover image that I take no credit for. That goes to BlurrzFire on DeviantArt. Also, this story is not serious in any sense of the word. Characters may or may not be in-character. I don't know, i'll play it by ear.**

"Prime!"

Optimus sighed softly in preparation for what was possibly another complaint of a destroyed military base.

"Yes, Agent Fowler?" Prime responded calmly, effectively masking his just _slight_ annoyance. He turned his head from regarding the monitor Ratchet was currently analyzing and pivoted his body to regard the government official through the monitor.

"It looks like Team Prime will be doing their first innercity mission," the dark skinned man uttered. His expression was hard to tell, but there was definitely amusement in there somewhere.

"I do not follow," Optimus admitted, not quite getting where Fowler was going with this. Ratchet was at Optimus' side, next to the monitor, and he only grunted in response.

"It means one of you 'Bots need to bridge over to New York. Apparently, a Wanted Man needs to be thwarted before he gets his hands on some important technology."

Arcee had overheard when she walked into the command hub and snorted in amusement. Trying not to hold back a laugh, she interruped Fowler with a question.

"Wait, you want us to do what? Isn't that what you're 'police' are for?" Arcee asked with air-quotes. Even though she didn't sound sarcastic, Fowler had to frown in annoyance.

"Judas Priest-" Fowler growled in annoyance and pinching his nose. "I'm gettin' to that! Apparently, the technology is of 'Bot and 'Con origin." Fowler looked down, and as he was on a screen, he must have been referring to a sheet of paper.

"A...Cardinal Psychic Pack?"

Optimus' optics widened in response. "A cortical phsyic patch," he muttered in thought. "This man, he was associated with mech?" Optimus guessed.

"Yes, Indeedy. You need someone stealthy to either retrieve or destroy the object. Thought you guys should know since this tech is kind of your jurisdiction."

"Optimus, allow me to do it. A motorcycle can get through a lot of areas in the streets. And i'm the smallest."

Prime glanced at Arcee as she pitched her reasonable argument. She was his first choice to scout and retrieve the psychic patch next to Bumblebee. "Very well," Optimus agreed.

"A psychic can be useful technology to reverse-engineer. Another necessary addition to healing equipment," Ratchet added, keying in the coordinates provided by Fowler.

"Alright. Just make sure you take care of this quick, fast, and in a hurry. We don't need everybody and their momma freakin' out about a transforming robot in the city," Agent Fowler concluded, cutting the transmission there.

"I'm simply grateful that the children aren't here. No doubt Miko would have been trying to sneak through the bridge and follow you," The medic commented with a tired sigh. Optimus half-smiled at Ratchet's mild frustration before turning to Arcee.

"Remember, Arcee. Your holoform is of most importance. None of the civillians in," Optimus paused to look at Ratchet questioningly.

"New York," the red and white 'Bot clarified.

"New York are familiar with our kind. Be careful," Optimus continued. Arcee nodded, stopping herself from rolling her eyes.

"No worries, Optimus. This'll be easy."

Optimus didn't say anything to that, and they all instinctively looked towards the activating Ground Bridge. Arcee walked forward until reaching the base of the walkway and then transformed, driving through the portal. Optimus didn't know why, but something about humans having posession of a cortical psychic patch did not sit well with him.

* * *

"Alright, men. Our boss' client needs not only this Psyche Patch thing, but we need that Neutronium canister over there," Dutch pointed, across from him, an armored truck with a flammable warning symbol. As leader, Dutch's overcoat was slightly flashier than the rest of his men's, complete with a rolex watch. The furry lapels were what kept him ready to rob the next bank. He was going to be the next Al Capone one day. He could feel it. The rest of his men, all dressed in black trench coats, with sweat pants, black leather gloves, and motorcycle helmets. Sure, they looked a bit ridiculous, but it was practical head protection, and it would conceal their identities. Dutch's black helmet happened to be slightly flashier, with gold paint trims along the sides. Of course, they have motorcycles waiting for them back at the dock's entrance.

Dutch pointed to two men. "You two, I want you to distract the driver and whoever else is in there," he ordered. The two nodded and made their way to the Truck. Dutch then pointed to the last four men. "Two of you get the drop on the douches driving the truck, and tie 'em up. The other two, you're with me to go and get that back door open." They all did their gang sign to show their understanding of the orders and went to complete their respective duties.

Meanwhile, in the Truck, Tom and Wesson were playing cards on the makeshift table they were using from an oversized notebook between the driver and passenger seat. Tom was standard security for Dock operations, so seated at the driver's seat, he wore the usual blue oxford and black slacks. Wesson, a truck cargo escort, wore similar clothing, sans his shirt, which was a black polo with the Truck's logo.

"Hm. Looks like I have royal flush," Tom uttered calmly as he placed his hand on the notebook.

"Oh, come on. Two wins in a row? You were playing so bad at the last cargo stop," Wesson complained, laying down his hand also on the notebook. His hand was so close to being his own royal flush with spades, except his cards were an ace, king, queen, then a three. The three ruined it. And there went his fifteen dollars. He was beginning to reach into his pocket when a tap was heard on Tom's side window.

"Huh? I thouht that the pick-up wasn't for another fifteen minutes," he asked Wesson, who only shrugged in response. The driver opened the door, seeing two motorcyclists.

"What can I do for you guys?" he asked courteously. One of the cyclists began to explain that one of their Motorcycle's was failing and if they knew where they could be directed to the nearest motorshop. Tom began to explain which route to take, not noticing two more cyclists already reaching the other side of the truck and managing to knock out Wesson.

"I think you can take a left at the nearest light," Tom explained helpfully, pointing to a street not too far from them. The two men not in conversation with Tom gave a thumbs up from inside the vehicle.

"Thanks!" one of the men in front of Tom appraised, before revealing the wooden bat behind him and promptly knocking the hapless security guard out.

"Too easy," one of the goons bragged, droppnig the bat a distance away, rolling off to rest at the base of some barrels.

Before even thirty seconds passed, the back doors of the Truck was forced open allowing acess to the Neutronium canisters. Both teams met up inside of the cargo space.

"We only needed one, but...Why don't we just put the bikes in here and just take the whole freakin' van?" Dutch suggested.

"Sounds good to me. I feel like actually resting in here," one of the men said tiredly. Dutch laughed before beckoning two men to him to help him retrieve the bikes.

"Hey, looks like we got an extra bike here," one of Dutch's men observed. Yeah, definitely extra. While they all had customized black Akroporvik Morsus, Black Choppers. This one was a sports motorcycle. And it was blue. And kinda pink in different spots.

"The heck? What's it doing right in the middle of all our bikes?" Dutch's compatriot had no answer to his much valid question. He just shrugged.

"Whatever, let's just get _our_ bikes. Forget that thing," Dutch's friend suggested. He agreed, and they both kneeled down to remove the kickstand from their respective bikes.

"Here, hold this thing will ya?" Dutch requested, pulling a collapsible cylinder from his overcoat's pocket.

"Friggin' thing's heavy." Dutch's friend said, surprised at how heavy the device was. It was definitely alien tecnology, with a lot of glowing trim lines marking along the cylindrical device. The both of them weren't paying attention when a helmeted woman in a jumpsuit instantly digitized over the blue motorcycle.

"I think i'll be taking that," the woman said smugly, before suddenly charging forward mere feet, ramming into Dutch's friend, launching him in the air, causing the device to to sail in the air also. The strange woman grabbed the device as it sailed past her, and the motorcycle's engines revved. Dutch saw his friend flying past his face, and he landed next to the barrels where a wooden bat lay. That was at least fourty feet away. And this girl barely pushed her bike forward. Girls are not that strong.

"Okay lady, hand over the thing," Dutch warned, pulling out his pistol. He never really killed anyone with it, and he wasn't trying to make today a first. Maybe he could just shoot her motorcycle and scare her if she didn't comply.

"Not happening," she said, the motorcycle suddenly charging towards him. As he was only feet away, he had to leap to safety. Because of this, he couldn't get a clear shot at her. And she was careening right towards the Truck!

"Aw, great. She's probably a Fed," Dutch realized, running to get close to the truck, and warning them to retreat.

The men poured out of the back of the truck to see a woman on a motorcycle drifting past the truck, and a gun barrel popping out the side of the motorcycle to shoot at the Neutronium canisters. They didn't dwell over there long enough to wonder why a motorcycle had that kind of artillery.

"Dude, this is 007 type crap she's pulling, let's get out of here!"

One of the men were wise enough to throw a tracking bug on the side of the motorcycle before running off.

"That'll teach her to mess with us!" he said to himself. Victor Drath wouldn't be happy that his client's neutronium got blown up. But at least he couldn't be mad at them. He tagged the dummy responsible for botching the operation. Dutch and his men sped off on their motorcycles back to their base of operations.

* * *

"That was too easy. Right, Sadie?" Arcee mock-asked to her holoform. She commed for a GroundBridge, and drove in with the psychic patch in her possession.

Some minutes passed before the hapless man that met the front of Arcee's motorcycle came to. His head was ringing, and he found himself situated next to a pile of barrels and a discarded wooden bat. Looking around, he noticed that all of his friends had left already.

"Guys? Aw, come on!" he yelled into his black helmet.


	2. Chapter 2

Transformers Prime

"What do you mean, you failed to retrieve the Neutronium canisters?" Victor Drath drawled in his deliberte manner in which he spoke. Unsurprisingly, he wore his own lavishly styled overcoat, but it was much more expensive looking than even Dutch's. He sported a mustache and had slicked back hair, with gray beginning to creep through at the sides, giving him a seasoned appearance. He had a ring on every other finger, which were clenched in annoyance and he didn't look very pleased.

"I'm sorry, boss! There was this crazy chick on a motorcycle! Guns poppin' out the side-"

Dutch's explanation was tuned out at that point. Did he say guns popping out the _side _of a _motorcycle_? This was matching up with some baloney that Silas was telling him about. He hadn't really believed much of what the former Special Tactics officer was going on about with extraterrestial machines, even with the video proof.

Turns out it wasn't baloney.

"Wait, did you manage to get a tracker on the chick?" Drath interrupted Dutch's sputtering. His right-hand man adopted a slightly sheepish expression. Victor rolled his eyes before one of the other guys sitting at a chair raised his hand.

"Actually, I managed to put a bug on her bike!" Austin said with pride. He tossed a small device to Dutch, who looked it over. Sighing in relief, he cast a grateful look at his buddy, who gave a thumbs up.

"Looks like we got a fix on her, but it's like in Nevada," Dutch observed the readings unbelievingly. Drath pulled out a cigar and lit it, rolling the reefer in between his teeth.

"Lemme' see that," Drath said irritably. Dutch tossed it to him, and he caught it with a hand. He looked over the numbers before snorting in amusement.

"That explains how she's suddenly hudreds of miles away," he muttered in thought. GroundBridges. Silas told him about those swirly portal things too. He was listening with a half an ear when he talked about it. As long as Drath's organization supplied the funding, they got military grade weapon and technology. But now, maybe he could use this little happening to his advantage.

"Okay," Drath said suddenly.

"What do you got in mind, boss?" Dutch questioned upon seeing Drath's mischievious glint in the eye.

"We're gonna set a trap for this rob-Ahem. Chick. And were gonna make sure she isn't messing with our organization anymore."

"Get me the phone. I'm gonna hire out an old friend of ours. Old Snake."

* * *

Apparently, Old Snake was a former head honcho of a now defunct criminal organization. He wore a peculiar, opaque, metal visor, and Victor Drath wondered how he could even see through the thing. The both of them were at a main street in New York, the place of interest they decided to rendezvous at.

"I see," Old Snake rasped amusedly. Drath thought the guy could use some hot tea to soothe that rough throat of his.

"Yes. I believe this may be one of the robots you had run-in with all those years ago. I didn't really believe you at first, but now it seems likely this is it," Drath replied, hands in his pockets. Old Snake nodded thoughtfully, turning his visored head towards him.

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Drath. So once I capture this robot, in exchange for payment, I am free to find out how these robots work?" Old Snake asked for confirmation. Drath slowly nodded his head once.

"Then it is a deal," The Visored man in blue concluded, the both of them shaking hands.

* * *

"This is a great find, Arcee!" Ratchet congratulated, continuing his scan of the now uncollapsed cortical psychic patch. It was completel undamaged, and had many applications that could be used to heal a variety of injuries. Optimus who was standing next to Ratchet, was busy decoding something on the monitor.

"Thanks. Took me no more than five minutes," Arcee commented with a hand on her hip. She idly watched Ratchet scan the device until the proximity scanners beeped, alerting the bots present of Bumblebee and Bulkhead's arrival. Arcee and Optimus glanced over to the two vehicles driving into the silo.

Since Arcee had been busy on her inner-city mission, Bumblebee had picked up both Jack and Raf, while Bulkhead picked up Miko as usual.

"Now we can really get a party started!" Miko exclaimed, as she jumped out of the passenger seat of Bulkhead's vehicle form. Simultaneously, Jack and Raf exited out of Bumblebee, in which both 'Bots in question shifted to biped mode.

Bumblebee gesticulated a bit, accompanied by some clicks and beeps.

"He asks what did we miss," Raf translated, more for Jack and Miko's benefit. Arcee walked over to them and kneeled down on one knee to better regard the children.

"I recovered a Cortical Psychic Patch. I actually went to New York to get it," Arcee said with a smile.

"Say what? I so wish I was there! I can see it on the new, A giant robot sprinting through the streets!" Miko cried, obviously excited at the concept of Autobots in a city.

"Nothing like that, Miko. More of a stealth mission, thank anything else."

"That's great, Arcee," Jack complimented, making his way to the second level of the silo where the TV was located. Raf and Miko followed close behind and they all plopped down on the couch.

"So. Was it Decepticons? Or MECH?" Jack questioned, resting his crossed arms on the upraised back ledge of the couch.

"Neither, actually. I think they were gangsters," Arcee responded. Raf chuckled a little at Miko and Bumblebee's reactions. Bulkhead laughed heartily at her response.

"Ha. Mobsters? That's weird. Isn't that stuff that local police would be taknig care of?" Bulkhead queried, performing air quotes when he uttered police, making Arcee laugh at some inside joke.

"That's exactly what I said. But since the psychic patch was involved, Agent Fowler figured one of us could go and get it," The femme said with amusement and now leaning against the wall.

"Autobots. I am detecting an energy spike," Optimus spoke up. He ceased his typing to regard everyone present.

"It is in the same proximity as the coordinates last supplied by Agent Fowler," he added, a thoughtful frown on his facial features. Ratchet looked up from his study of the patch device to look at Optimus.

"Do you think it could be another Cortical patch? Seems odd for there to be _another _one," the medic commented, glancing over at the readings on the screen.

"Oh, oh, oh! I want to see Arcee beat up some more gangsters!" Miko cried enthusiastically from her spot at the couch. Even Jack had to chuckle. That would probably be something funny to see.

"No, not a device. But there is a high concentration of Energon," Optimus replied, turning to Ratchet. The medic narrowed an optic in confusion.

"What would that much Energon be doing in the middle of New York?" Ratchet inquired, even more confused. New York was an industrial city, so there was little to no chance of there being rocks that Energon crystals could be bonded too, much less in the quantity that Optimus' research was suggesting.

"I can check it out," Arcee suggested as she pushed herself off of the wall.

"I would advise you take backup with you this time. This situation is highly peculiar," Optimus commented with narrowed optics, looking over the data on the screen before turning to loko at Arcee.

"Cool! So we get to come?" Miko shouted, looking just about ready to jump right from the rail and to the GroundBridge.

"Miko, I think he meant a 'Bot" Bulkhead clarified, sounding just a bit apologetic. The asian teen pouted before exhaling in frustration.

"Augh! That's no fair!"

Bumblebee stepped forward, and spoke a bit.

"Then it is settled. Bumblebee will act as your shadow while you investigate the Energon spike," the Prime said calmly before glancing over to Ratchet. The Chief Medical Officer nodded in confirmation before inputting the coordinates and pulling on the lever.

* * *

"What the heck is all this stuff?" Drath asked in mild surprise. Before him stood a huge tank full of a glowing blue liquid. Old Snake stood next to him, a hand on his chin giving off the impression that he was thinking.

"This, my friend," Old Snake rasped in his namesake voice, "is Energon. The blood of these robots. My former organization and a rival military subgroup had a run in with these transforming vehicles a long, long, time ago. It is their primary fuel source."

Drath nodded. "How did you get all this stuff over here?" he questioned curiously. The glowing liquid was casting shadows all over the warehouse, giving the place a swimming pool reflective quality. The warehouse was chosen so that for one, Drath's base of operations wouldn't be compromised, and two, this is where the trap would be sprung.

Old Snake cackled in amusement. "That is a trade secret. Now come. We must veil ourselves from their approach. No doubt their Portal Technology will allow them to arrive here in mere moments," he beckoned. So he and Old Snake walked inside of a room that blocked scanners. The rest of Drath's men that were a part of the plot were also inside. Some monitored controls situated on the walls, which were set up like terminals in which the trap would be manually activated. Old Snake walked over to a monitor and waved Drath over.

"Come, come. This is where the trap shall be sprung. Because the Cortical Psychic Patch was not completely reverse-engineered, we can only use it for data transfer. But that it is where it comes in here," he said, pointing at an object on the screen.

Next to the vat of Energon was a giant machine that housed two parallel, vertical cylinders. One housed a small chamber that could contain the average sized human, and the other cylinder housed many electromagnetic pulse emitters along the inside.

"We shall use the Cortical Psychic patch as a power source, to transfer the mind of our hapless robot to the synthoid body within that chamber."

"Why don't we just blow up the robot and then you can study it?" Drath asked sensibly. Old Snake simply responded with an "Ah."

"That is a good question. But apparently, these robots have something within their structure that allows them to activate weapons and other protocols. As I do not know where it is in those bodies, I need the robot intact. Which is why the mind transfer is necessary." Drath nodded with better understanding. So the mind transfer would reduce the robot's body to a mindless husk. He could see the logic in that.

"Besides, you could always just destroy the synthoid once the transfer is complete," Old Snake added, voicing Drath's thoughts.

The whole of the room quieted when they heard the strange sound of something like a waterfall. Turning his attention back to the monitor, he saw a bipedal form walk through some kind of swirling portal, followed by something else, but he couldn't really tell, as the warehouse where the robot stood in was very dim.

"There's a vat of Energon here. Odd," Drath heard the biped say, as he listened through the speakers. Yep, giant robots. He was used to weird things by now. This wasn't too surprising. On the screen, the robot seemed to be studying the vat, trying to figure out how to move it.

"Now to activate the trap," Old Snake said to the henchmen stationed at the terminals. The men began typing furiously, and soon enough, the EMP's that were inside of one of the tubes began magnetizing the robot. Drath and the men heard some strange beeping noises and then saw another robot suddenly trying to pull the first one from the pod she was being unwillingly drawn too.

"There's another one? This soon?" Old Snake asked to himself in mild shock. He hummed to himself before snorting dismissively.

"No matter, activate the machine's transfer!"

* * *

With all his strength, Bumblebee was trying his hardest to keep a solid grip on Arcee's servo.

"Bumblebee, let go! Before you get stuck in this thing too!" Arcee demanded, trying herself to slide herself out of the machine. It wasn't doing any good, and she couldn't move out of the cylinder. Bumblebee's wide optics widened even moreso in surprise when panels began to recede to close it completely. In a last effort, Arcee broke out of the yellow scout's grip, before the door had took off Bumblebee's arm.

"'Bee! Don't worry about me, call a GroundBridge and get them over here!" She shouted to him urgently. He did as told, activating the channel.

"Uuurgh!" Arcee's pained scream travelled through the air, and she suddenly slumped unconscious inside the casing. Bee had rushedly demanded for reinforcements, but the machine began to power up. Bumblebee raised his guns toward the machine she was trapped in but hesitated. What if he damaged her? He could make things worse! Every few seconds he would crane his head around, trying to spot the telltale signs of an opening GroundBridge, but none showed up anywhere.

Suddenly, the machine ceased operating, and Arcee slumped even further if that was possible.

_Oh-no, Oh-no, Oh-no, _Bumblebee thought worriedly. At the same instant he attempted to pull open the door, just as he managed, a bright white light flashed in his optics, temporarily blinding him.

Shaking his head vigorously, he attempted to will away all the spots in his eyes.

"Bumblebee!"

Focusing his optics, the yellow scout could see Bulkhead exiting out of a still active GroundBridge. The wrecker glanced around the warehouse quickly, scanning the area for any hostiles. But it was only an empty cylinder, another cylinder with a small chamber in it, and a startled Bumblebee.

"Where's Arcee?"

_What? She was just here..._Bumblebee craned his head back to the cylinder.

_Empty!_ The scout rushed out a distressed string of beeps. Bulkhead's expression saddened. Bumblebee was punishing himself.

"Hey, Easy 'Bee," Bulkhead attempted to calm him down. "We'll find her. We'll just have Ratchet get a tracking sig. going or something," he suggested, walking up to the machine to study it. He noticed a cortical patch cord connected to both cylinders. _That wasn't good. _

"'Bee! Bulk!"

The yellow scout and the wrecker's optics widened at the human voice. Bulkhead almost thought it was Miko, but the voice sounded slightly older. Bumblebee let out a loud and distressed noise, pointing to something by Bulkhead's feet. Bulkhead looked down next to the now open chamber to his left. Outside of the cylinder was a human, on her knees, and looking like she was trying not to throw up.

What threw Bumblebee for a loop was the human's hair and jacket. The jacket resembled Arcee's chassis in aesthetics, and even her hair held a resemblance to the familiar helm. He almost didn't want to guess at the implications.

"We have no choice. Maybe she knows what happened to Arcee," Bulkhead suggested, not picking up te clues that Bumblebee was mulling over.

_I think that _is _Arcee,_ Bumblebee thought to himself. He didn't say it aloud, because he wasn't completely sure.

And he really, really hoped he was wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

Transformers Prime

Optimus' brows turned down in confusion.

"Come again?" Prime inquired into the comm. channel. All three children could see the Prime's puzzled expression. The humans shared a look before Jack spoke up.

"Optimus? Did something happen to any of them?" he asked, a bit concerned. It couldn't be Decepticons, and the fact that the only problem they could encounter would be humans left him feeling a bit nervous.

Optimus turned his optics down to Jack, about ready to respond. His explanation was interrupted by the GroundBridge's appearance. All eyes and optics alike turned to the portal, and Jack's question left his mind for the moment.

Bulkhead and Bumblebee walked into the silo slowly, the both of them looking downcast. Bumblebee let out a depressed beep.

"There's someone in Bumblebee's hand!" Miko observed with shock. Raf and Jack perked up at Miko's exclamation.

"Bulkhead? Where is Arcee?"

Bulkhead looked at Optimus and exhaled tiredly.

"'Bee explained it on the way. She's right there," the wrecker explained, gesturing his head toward the unconscious human in the yellow scout's hand.

The medic gawked in response.

"What!? You can't possibly be suggesting," Ratchet let his tirade end there. The concept of it all was unbelievable!

"A cybertronian's mind in a _human's _body? That's unthinkable! How could humans possibly have this kind of technology?" Ratchet trailed off, shaking his head in frustration.

"This is like invasion of the body snatchers! But with giant robots," Miko claimed, wiggling her hands by either side of her temple. Raf shook his head, not really finding the situation that exciting.

"Miko, I don't know. Arcee could be stuck like this," Jack said soberly. Miko didn't really see the gravity of the situation, or she wasn't that concerned with it. He instantly guessed the latter.

"Miko, this is serious. We don't even know where her body is," Bulkhead said with a sad shake of his head.

"If this is indeed Arcee," Optimus spoke up. He was still skeptical. "We will find out what we need to know when she awakes," he said, gesturing to the unconscious stranger. Everyone quited down, Optimus already saying what was turned back to the monitor, not wanting them to see the frown on his face. There have been many times when each of his soldiers have faced depressing odds. But for one of them to be at the mercy at a unit more dangerous than MECH was a very sobering thought.

"Decepticons in human skin," Optimus remembered saying before about MECH. But this was a different group. And possibly more dangerous.

* * *

The first thing Arcee felt was the annoying pressure on her face. Even though her eyes were closed, light seemed to still be trying reach her.

Opening her eyes painfully, she felt something soft under her. Groaning in pain, she attempted to sit up, but a wave of vertigo assaulted her. Plopping back down on the soft surface, she looked around and realized she was on that object the humans woulf often be sitting on.

"Hey, you okay?"

Arcee saw a shape move up to stand over her, but it wasn't any of the Autbots. This one had...hair? Blinking a few times, the muddled shape cleared up and she saw,

"Jack?!" She shot up straight, willing herself to ignore the dizziness that hit her again. Unfortunately, the area below her chest was clenching wildly, and she felt as though something was trying to fight it's way out and through her mouth.

"Ugh. Feels like something is trying to force it's way out of my tank," Arcee said, and Jack could tell that talking seemed to be painful for her.

"You mean, your stomach?" Jack asked. He looked away a moment and looked at Optimus. Arcee noticed that he was looking above her.

"Last thing I remember was Bee trying to get me out of that machine," she said, holding a hand to her forehead. It was pounding and it was a feeling she wasn't familiar with. Scrap, it hurt!

Optimus, who was still at the monitors after two hours, looked at her in thought.

"Arcee?"

She heard Optimus' voice, and the strange thing was that it felt as though it was coming from somewhere _extremely_ high. Craning her head as high as she could, she could see Optimus' concerned face looking down at her from at least what looked miles up. Arcee's mouth dropped a bit and struggled to say something. Then she looked back at Jack as though for the first time.

"Why am I the same size as you?" she demanded. She blinked then looked down at herself. She looked at her hands and turned them over, over and over again.

Her lips were trying to form words, but she didn't say anything for a long while.

"A-Arcee?" Jack ventured. "You okay?" he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder. Arcee took a shaky breath and dropped her hands.

"What happened to me?" She asked, her strength returning to her. She attempted to stand, and took a few clumsy steps, ending up only three steps away. She felt heavier for some reason. Resting a hand on her knee, she attempted to stay standing, but had to sit down again. She heard large footsteps and slightly arched her head to see Bumblebee make some gestures and produce a string of clicks, whirs, and beeps.

"What? Body switch? Where's my real body!" she shouted in response to Bumblebee's explanation. Bumblebee had to jump back in surprise by her incensed response.

"You can understand him?" Bulkhead's surprised query came.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Uh. No reason."

Optimus chose this moment to get her attention. "Bulkhead, you stated that there was a cortical psychic patch involved?"

"Yeah, Bossbot. It was connected to both tanks," the wrecker said, optics widening as he spoke. "You think..." Bulkhead's optics widened further. He then looked down to Arcee.

"Arcee!"

"Scrap, you're dense," Arcee complained out loud. Her own hands felt more warm than usual, and the softness of her... _everything_ was off-putting. She figured that now she should have the strength to stand up without feeling that strange pressure in her head.

"Arcee."

She turned her head to Optimus, who had an analytical expression on his face. He took a deep breath and steeped forward to be face to face with Arcee. She had to admit that was kind of intimidating.

"I believe it would be best if you are to stay with one of the humans while we search for your cybertronian body."

"Wait, Optimus. I can help!" She retorted, but she didn't know how she could help.

"Understandable. But in your current situation, it would be safer for you."

Great. Now she would be stuck out of the base. What was next, going to that human school?


	4. Chapter 4

Transformers Prime

"Optimus! I was _not _serious when I said that! It was sarcasm!"

Optimus regarded Arcee momentarily before turning back to the monitor. That action he did was starting to annoy her, with how freakishly tall he was when doing it.

"Be that as it may. It is the only reasonable course of action for you at the moment. Staying here would not be healthy for your temporary shell, and staying mobile will keep you safe."

"Why _can't _I stay at base?" Arcee asked in reply. Ratchet shook his head as though talking to a punk teenager, which she kind of looked like at the moment, both physically and metaphorically.

"Because we do not have human food for you here. And either us or the humans having to fetch food to and 'fro would only compromise someone when they could be utilized _elsewhere_," Ratchet drawled in his way of sounding extremely annoyed.

"Don't take that tone with me, Ratchet," Arcee retorted, causing a laugh from Jack, Raf, and Miko. Then a realization hit her. "Wait, I have to eat? Human food?" the former cycle-bot asked with a disgusted expression on her face.

"Aw, come on! It'll be fun! You get to try out the mystery meat at school!"

Arcee could only curl her lip in contempt at the ominous sounding food.

"I am sorry, Arcee. But it is for your own good," Prime said in a sober tone. "We will contact you when we have a lead on your frame," he said before turning away again towards the monitor that Ratchet was working on. Bumblebee stepped forward and handed her a small flat object the size of Arcee's new human hands and beeped something.

"Fantastic. I need a phone, now?" She sarcastically commented, snatching the iPhone out of Bumblebee's open palm.

"Let's look on the bright side. You can experience what it's like to be human at Franklin High School," Jack added. Then he sarcastically added,

"Right, _Sadie_?"

Arcee scowled heavily and mumbled a shut-up, before walking toward the tunnel.

"Arcee, you will need transportation," Optimus cut in before she walked too far off through the tunnel. She was about to snarkily reply that she was a motorcycle before catching herself.

"Right," she mumbled under her breath, facepalming.

"Bumblebee?"

The scout nodded and shifted into his Urbana 500 sports car mode. Arcee shook her head, an uncertain expression on her face, after Bumblebee opened his side door. Jack,Miko, and Raf were the first ones to pile in.

"This is so wrong on so many levels," Arcee said, attempting to not think about what she was currently doing. She took a seat in the back, with Miko and Jack, while Raf rode shotgun. The door closed, and the car pulled off.

Since it was already after school, Bumblebee dropped Miko off with her host parents and then Raf at his house. He pulled up perpendicular to the Darby driveway.

"I thought we were going to this "tall school"," Arcee uttered, resting a head on her hand and the same arm resting on a door frame inside the car.

"It's 7:00. School ended three and a half hours ago," Jack explained to her. "Besides, you're going to need all the sleep you can get before school tomorrow."

"I don't do sleep," she antiphoned smugly as she opened the door. Stepping out, Bumblebee beeped a farewell, closed his door and drove off.

"Isn't that what you guys do when you 'Go into recharge'," Jack replied with airquotes. They both strolled towards the door, and Arcee shook her head in a negative.

"No, recharge is when we shut down our internal systems so they don't overheat when we don't need them," Arcee retorted with a cross of her arms.

"So, sleeping," Jack deadpanned, pressing a finger to the doorbell.

"You've been acting like a real prick since the body switch," Arcee commented without looking at him.

"Huh? What? No!" Jack sputtered. His no doubt self-embarrasing explanation was interrupted by the door opening.

"Honey, you're earl-Who's this?" June asked interestedly. Jack scratched the back of his head nervously. Should he just tell her that Arcee got turned into a human? Might as well, he guessed.

"Um, mom. This is-"

"Sadie," Arcee interrupted, cutting a glance at Jack, who was trying not to gawk in response.

"Oh," June responded, a bit surprised at the newcomer's appearance. "A friend of Jack's?"

"Actually, mom-"

"Yes. Pleased to meet you," Arcee interrupted Jack again, offering a hand to June, and they both shook hands.

"Pleasure's all mine," Jack's mother replied, impressed by the lady's assertiveness.

"Uh, mom? I was wondering if she could spend the night?" Jack asked hesitantly. At June's questioning look, he ameded by adding, "Book study. Study partners...for studying."

June shrugged and invited Sadie in. Sadie made her way up the stairs, and Jack poured himself a glass of water.

"Jack, I know your father can't be around to tell you this," June said to Jack, when she was sure 'Sadie' was out of earshot.

"Mom? What are you talking about?"

"Honey, please use protection," his mother advised, patting him on the side of his face before going to her room. Jack raised an eyebrow, not getting what she meant at all. Downing the water in gulps, the thought hit him.

His mom saw him come home with a girl she's never seen in her life, and he asks his mom if she could spend the night.

He instinctively spat water out of his mouth before entering a coughing fit as a result.

_Oh god, _Jack thought in a rush. His mom interpreted the whole situation all wrong. He shook his head, massaging his throat. Now his throat was scratchy from all that coughing. Thanks a lot, mom.


	5. Chapter 5

Transformers Prime

"Did you really have to cut me off? It's kind of complicated since my mom thinks you're a stranger," Jack said with a sigh when he entered his room. Arcee was sitting on a prop chest that sat beside the only window in Jack's room.

"That's what you get for acting like a prick earlier," Arcee retorted nonchalantly with a shrug. Jack lolled his head backwards in an 'I give up' gesture. "Well, anyway, you'll need a new change of clothes."

Arcee turned to face him completely at this point. "What's wrong with this thing?" She queried, pointing lazily at her extremely stylized jacket. Jack supressed a laugh, and shook his head in mock sympathy.

"Okay, first of all, that would not fit in at all at schools, or anywhere else," Jack retorted, tapping a finger on his chin. "My mom might have some extra shirts and jeans or something."

"Fine," Arcee sighed, standing up. "I'll be right back."

Jack sat down on his bed, pulled aside his backpack, and opened up a binder.

"Might as well get started on this pre-calculus," Jack said with a resigned exhale of breath. Pulling a mechanical pencil out of hi pocket, he began to start on the practice numbers. This went on for a few minutes, the only sounds being the occasional click of the eraser, the scribbling of the pencil, and the tick of the clock.

"Okay, I have some clothes here. I like these 'Jean' things, but those skirts are kinda stupid."

"Mhm," Jack muttered, not paying attention, continuing to write.

"How do you take this thing off?"

"Huh?" Jack uttered, lifting his head from his notebook. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"Arcee! Woah, Woah!" Jack rushed over to her and frantically waved his arms to stop her from removing her shirt. She had already managed to take of her jacket.

"A girl doesn't just change clothes when a guy is present," he explained rushedly, and stepping out of the room.

"Huh?"

"Just let me know when you're finished!" he stated from the other side of the now closed door. He shook his head, trying to will away the heat rising to his face. That would have been too awkward to deal with. forcing a small chuckle, he started down the stairs and back to the kitchen. He needed another glass of water. Entering through the archway that seperated the kitchen from the living room, Jack suddenly got nervous.

"Aw, man. I hope Sierra doesn't get suspicious. I think we really hit it off," Jack thought back to that day at the KO Burger. Sure, they both shared homeroom, and she seemed to just notice that they both shared the first class in school, but he didn't hold that against her. She was probably very busy with her schoolwork. And Vince did attract a lot of attention, a la pranking a lot of the classmates. Jack rested his hands on the counter, forgetting about the glass of water.

"Something tells me tomorrow is not going to go smoothly."

Jack shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He was just being paranoid. Granted, his new classmate would be an alien robot that probably isn't very familiar with earth customs, but whatever. No point in drawing Murphy's Law more into his life.

"Jack, i'm done getting dressed," Arcee said from the top of the stairs. Peeking out of the kitchen, Jack saw what she was wearing. Slightly loose blue-jeans and a navy blue shirt with a pink stripe running from the underside of the sleeve vertically down to the bottom of the shirt on either side.

"Wow, matches your hair," Jack complimented.

"My hair? Personally, I think it looks ridiculous," she commented with a shake of her head, examining one of the pink-tinted bangs of hair lining the side of her face with an index finger and thumb. "Seriously. I've never seen humans with discolored hair like this. Except maybe those costume conventions on the internet."

"Kind of reminds me of your robot form," Jack commented objectively, making his way back up the stairs.

"Don't remind me," Arcee replied while dropping her hand from her hair. "They better find my frame soon," Arcee uttered in annoyance.

"You're taking this lighter than I thought," Jack said carefully as he made his way back to his room. Arcee followed behind and Jack plopped back on the bed to finish up his homework.

"Jack, i'm millions of years old. I've seen things," Arcee spoke in amusement. She sat at the prop chest again, but this time with her back to the window, and she rested her elbows on the window frame. "Human skin seems unnecessarily sensitive," she observed, trying to shift into a better position. Jack half-smiled at her annoyed expression.

"We're smaller and a bit less sturdier, so we need the extra sense to know if something's wrong with our body among other things," the male explained. Arcee just shrugged, and Jack finished up his homework assignment.

Upon seeing Jack put his books back into his bag, Arcee stood up.

"So where do I sleep?"

Jack blinked. "Oh, almost forgot. You can use my bed. I can sleep on the floor."

"Why not just sleep with me on the bed," she asked innocently, causing Jack to cough and clear his throat. "Isn't it going to be uncomfortable on the wooden floor?" she added.

"It's fine," Jack said with a scratch of his head. "I have a sleeping bag and an extra pillow," he explained, pulling said items out of his closet. "Remember when I was telling you about camping?"

"Uh-huh."

"Makes any ground feel like a soft carpet," he said proudly, setting his sleeping bag on the floor next to the bed. "'Night, Arcee," he said, stifling a yawn, and hiding himself within the folds of his sleeping bag.

"But i'm not tired," she complained. It almost sounded like a whine from Arcee, and Jack snorted while trying to hold in a guffaw.

"Believe me, the moment you close your eyes, you'll be dead to the world." Jack heard Arcee utter a "Fine," with heavy annoyance. He clapped twice, and the lights went out.

Before he fell asleep, he began to hear heavy snoring.

"Oh my god, Arcee," Jack whispered with a shaky laugh, trying not to wake her back to alertness.


	6. Chapter 6

Transformers Prime

Jack awoke to the sound of a running shower. Mom was usually gone by now, off to work, so he figured that Arcee was told how to use one. Yawning with abandon, Jack mazed his way through his sleeping bag to finally stand up. Folding it meticulously, he picked up his pillow, proud that there was no slobber marks on it, and put them back into the closet.

Turning back around, he saw his bed, covered with uneven sheets and the comforter laying halfway between being on the bed and on the floor. Wow, Arcee moved around _a lot _in her sleep. But thinking about it, those giant berth things they slept on were essentially giant raised slabs. Maybe they all tossed and turned in their sleep.

Except maybe Optimus. He looked like the kind of bot that would sleep completely still. Laughing lightly at the thought, he folded the sheets back to make the bed look sleepable on again. He heard the distant rush of water stop suddenly. So Arcee was out of the shower. Grabbing his own set of clothes out of the drawer to change into after his own shower, he made his way into the hallway.

"Morning, Jack. You're right, it _is _hard to stay awake as a human," she commented offhandedly, walking back to his room. Jack tried not to let his jaw drop. She was wrapped only in a towel, and her hair was still extra-slick from excess water. He blinked several times to snap himself out of his daze. Get a hold of yourself, Jack. This wasn't even her _real _body. Even though he had to admit, it was hot. Why the heck did Arcee's ambushers put so much work into a human body anyway?

"Y-yeah! We humans sure get tired easy," he stuttered lamely, realizing he paused a second too long. Arcee's expression was amused with a raised eyebrow. Jack hoped to the stars above that she didn't guess what he was thinking. "I'll be ready in a second, I gotta wash up," he said with a cough, rushing into said restroom.

* * *

After they were both dressed, Jack in his usual set of clothes, and Arcee wearing a get-up similar to what she wore the night before, they waited on the porch for Bulkhead to pick them up. Ratchet had said over the phone moments ago that with Bumblebee being the only available scout at this time that he'd be busy during the mornings and early afternoons to assist in investigations in finding Arcee's cybertronian frame.

"Do we just go by your hologram's name?" Jack asked. Arcee nodded without looking his way.

"That's what Optimus put my name as," she confirmed. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, you're already enrolled in the school? How did Optimus manage that?" Jack retorted. Arcee rolled her eyes.

"You don't remember?" She said, putting one of her hands on her knee and turning to look at him. "He is, or was, an Archivist. In effect, he's basically a hacker," she continued, laughing at Jack's confusion.

"I didn't know Optimus could do that. I thought he was more like a...librarian," Jack replied, embarrassed.

"For the past few weeks he had been _decoding_ relics. And archivists record things, put in codes, etc.," she responded with a chuckle.

"Oh."

There was a honk of a horn, accompanied by the sound of heavy metal. Arcee sighed and dropped her head in tiredness. "Did it have to be Bulkhead and Miko?" Arcee complained, standing up heavily, and Jack followed her to the SUV.

"Do you know how embarrassing it would be to be dropped off by an Ambulance? Or better yet, a Big Rig? It would make no kinds of sense!"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Arcee said with a sigh. "I call the drivers' seat!" she added, circling the vehicle to get to the steering wheel. "Hey, Bulk."

"Hey, Arcee. Jack. How's it goin," Bulkhead responded in greeting. Jack returned the greeting, sitting in the back seat. Miko, who was in the passenger's seat, twisted around to look at Jack.

"What's up, guys! You ready for school, Arcee?" she said, turning her head forward to the driver's side.

Arcee leaned her head backwards on the seat cushion and Bulkhead pulled off from the house.

"Ready as I'll ever be. This day is going to be so stupid," she uttered, idly resting a hand on the steering wheel. Miko only giggled in reply. Since Franklin High School wasn't too far by driving distance, Arcee was grateful for the relative silence, well save for the heavy metal. They pulled up to the side of the building where Bulkhead usually drops Miko off, and they all piled out.

"All right, kids. Keep out of trouble. Especially you, Arcee," Bulkhead warned before laughing and driving off to a spot where he could enter the GroundBridge unseen. Arcee shook her head in annoyance.

"What the heck was that supposed to mean!" She demanded, turning around to face Jack, who raised his hands in surrender. Arcee was about a head taller than Jack, looking down at him like he was part of some plot.

"I dunno. You'd probably end up beating someone up. Try not to get angry too easy," he suggested, earning a scowl from Arcee. "I'm just saying," he added meekly.

"Come on guys, before we miss the bell. Arcee, do you have a copy of your class schedule?"

Arcee shook her head at Miko. "Don't need it. Apparently, I still retain an eidetic memory."

Miko frowned in consternation. "A what?"

"I remember things very easily. I have it memorized," she explained while attempting to stop herself from facepalming.

"Why didn't you just say that at first?" Miko retorted with a roll of her eyes. She started up the steps to her on homeroom and Jack and a slightly incensed Arcee walked up the stairs moments later.

"The school hallway, this is where most of the traffic is," Jack explained, as they all went to their first class. Through Optimus' 'hacking', Arcee had the same class schedule that he did. Arcee had explained that it was so they could keep an eye on each other. She also didn't hesitate to add that all the classes were extremely easy anyway.

"Way to rub it in, _Sadie_," Jack said sarcastically, careful not to say 'Arcee' with all the other students and faculty present.

"I told you, payback for you being a prick," Arcee retorted in amusement. They were only a few more feet away from the room, but then a tall, blond haired teen suddenly put his arm in front of a nearby locker, blocking their path.

"What's up, Darby," Vince said in mock friendliness. Jack forced himself not to roll his eyes.

"Vince."

Arcee raised an eyebrow at this. Wasn't this the guy that Jack raced twice in those street races. She half stepped back on instinct when Vince suddenly took a step towards her.

"Who is this lovely lady?" the sandy haired teen asked, wiggling his brows at her. Clearly, he didn't know what personal space was. Jack stepped in between them and crossed his arms, facing Vince.

"She's a friend of mine. Go away, Vince. Haven't you had enough fun stealing those burgers you should've paid for?"

Vince cleared his throat, not trying to be embarrassed in front of this new hot girl. "Ha. What are you talking about?" he said smoothly, brushing off Jack's comment, and turning back to Arcee. "So, babe. What's your name? Your 'friend' here," Vince said with airquotes, "has already introduced me."

Arcee looked utterly unimpressed. She had a hand on her hip, and Vince thought she was simply _on fire_.

"Listen, Vince?"

Hearing his name, he jerked his brows up and down. Oh yeah, his masculine charm was working like always.

"Try talking to someone who's interested?" she suggested, succeeding in wiping the grin off of Vince's face. "Let's get to class, Jack," she said dismissively. Vince hadn't moved from his spot, looking dumbstruck. Jack shrugged at Vince with a smirk, before following Arcee to class.

"Dude, you got rejected. By a new girl," one of Vince's buddies observed with a laugh.

"That girl, I need to know her name!" Vince said, ignoring his friend's comment. "Did you see her? That hair! It was sexy!" Vince continued, shaking his friend's shoulders like a madman.

"Woah, dude, chill! I saw!" the hapless friend said, shoving Vince off of him. "But come on! She looks like a supermodel! You can't possibly win someone like that over!"

Vince only looked at some imaginary spot in the ceiling, a thought formulating in his mind.

"I need to get to know her," he said in daze. Suddenly frowning, he addded, "And how the heck is Darby friends with someone like _her_?" he ruffled his hair with a hand unconsciously. "Well, he only has that one motorcycle. I got two sportscars!" he declared confidently, shouldering past his buddy, who demanded he wait up. He would go ahead and get to class for now, but he'd win her over somehow.

Vince could do this. Darby was a dweeb. He's got this in the bag. After all, he was one of the most popular guys in school!


	7. Chapter 7

Transformers Prime

"Stop throwing that!"

"Loser!"

"Haha!"

Jack shook his head in defeat at the hushed jeers and insults being thrown by random students to other random students. Walking in with his bookbag slung over his shoulder, he sat in his usual seat. Coincidentally, the seat immediately to Jack's right was unnocupied. Arcee took that one and Miko sat at a desk diaganol from Jack, in which she promptly launched a spitball at Vince's neck. Vince whirled around from his seat in the middle area of the classroom and glared at her.

Vince wished so bad that she was a dude, he thought with an irritated eye twitch. Then he could do something about her constant pestering, but oh well. He double pointed at his own eyes, and then gestured his fingers towrd her, as though telekinetically throwing glare daggers at her. The asian teen gracefully responded by sticking out her toungue at him, eyes shut, and forming the loser symbol over her head.

"Enough of that, students. Unless anyone wants extra homework," the newly arrived teacher droned out lethargically. Instantly, the room quieted as though they saw a natural disaster forming. The teacher walked over to his desk and picked up his attendance list. Adjusting his glasses, the instructor peered closely at his sheet of paper and nodded professionally.

"It appears we have a new student," he droned again, sounding utterly bored with the world. "If you may?" he encouraged, gesturing his open hand towards Arcee. All eyes were on her as she stood and walked to the front of the class. Waving her hand once, almost dismissively, she introduced herself.

"Name's Sadie. Transferring from a private school," she said. Before she could walk back to her seat, the teacher asked another question.

"Oh?" he intoned interestedly. "What private school do you hail from?" he asked. It had been a while since there had been a transfer from a private school. Lord knew that star students were few and far and between.

Arcee hesitated only for a fraction of a second. "Uh, Choate Rosemary Hall?"

The instructor's eyes nearly bulged in his eye sockets. _Choate Rosemary Hall?!_ Why would she transfer from a prestigious high school offers study abroad classes to _this _dump of a school? Clearing his throat and regaining his bearings, he told himself that he should count himself lucky to have a student of that caliber. He wouldn't question that.

"That is quite the background! Thank you, Sadie, you may have a seat. And by the way, my name is Mr. Strickland," he said with a dismissing, but respectful nod. A majority of the guys and girls were looking at her for opposite reasons. Most of the males didn't know much about Choate Hall, but they knew a popular girl when they saw one. All the females saw was competition. They were definitely knowledgable of that school.

"I think you just made twenty-odd rivals in the span of two seconds," Jack whispered to Arcee, leaning over the side of his desk just so, so she could hear. She mirrored the action, albeit a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you say that?"

"You just said you came from one of _the _most prestigious high schools, like college level. A lot of the girls are giving you that glare."

Arcee didn't even bother to look.

Arcee only snorted derisively at his worry. "Whatever."

The class went on boring as usual, except for the curious (and annoying, in Arcee's opinion) glances that a lot ofthe male students kept giving her. Then came the moment she dreaded.

"Arcee, you _have _to eat something. You skipped out on dinner, which was probably your first chance at eating something that isn't," Jack gestured his hand towards the open (crowded) area of what was the cafeteria, "Cafeteria food."

"I don't want your earth food!" she asserted, but her strong claim was rebuffed by the growl of her stomach. Arcee grabbed her stomach in confusion. "What was that?"

"You're hungry," Jack answered amusedly, leading her to the lunch line.

"Here, take this, you'll need this to buy the food," Darby explained, placing two green sheets of paper in her palm. She rolled her eyes at the back of his head once he turned back around. Once they got their food, Raf waved them over to a cafeteria bench that sat towards the middle of the cafeteria within a sea of other cafeteria benches. Miko sat across from Raf, talking to one of her other friends that was most likely just as much a troublemaker as she.

"Hey, Jack. Hey Sadie! How's human life?" Raf aimed the question at Arcee, who shrugged with an unsure expression, as they sat down next to him on either side.

"I dunno. The males keep staring at me, the females keep staring at me, and this food smells...strange," she said, wrinkling her nose at the last part of her comment. Raf laughed a bit at her bluntness.

"Don't worry, Arcee! The rice and chicken is very good. They're doing chinese menu today."

"And the apple juice isn't half bad, Sadie," Jack added to Raf's comment. He was currently opening the straw to his drink container, and opening his utensils out of their wrapper. Arcee looked at her food before steeling herself as though she were going on a scout mission.

"If I can break out of a Kaon prison, I can eat this organic foodstuff," she mumbled, before opening the fork out of the wrapper and beginning to eat.

"Uh, Sadie..."

Jack's warning was unheeded. She had to grudgingly admit, this food tasted pretty awesome. The chicken was slightly firm on the outside and tender on the inside. The thought of actually tasting anything other than Energon actually left her nervous, but the flavor! It was just too good!

_Everyone _at the table watched her with dropped jaws as Arcee ate her food as though she hadn't eaten since she was born. And in a way, that was true. One of the many boys texting on his phone dropped it on the table in shock, such that it was a hot girl downing food like a lawn mower.

After downing her lunch in record time, she proceeded to take her apple juice to the head and do the same with the milk.

She cleared her throat before belching.

All the girls present at the table, except Miko, expressed unabashed shock at what they bore witness to.

"Aw, yeah! Perfect score! Up top!" Miko congratulated. She and Arcee high-fived with grins on their faces.

The other guys got over their shock, and ignored the girls they were talking to, to sit closer to Arcee.

"That was awesome."

"Do you play Call of Duty?"

"You are way cooler than those girls over there."

Said girls, who were the ones at the other end of the table, glared at Arcee before moving to another table, offended. The other guys had moved away sooner or later, either because they didn't want their friend to leave or because Arcee was ignoring them.

"I never would of thought I would ever see you do that," Jack observed. It would have sounded like a dissaproving statement, but their was a hint of pride in his voice. Arcee would probably get used to school very easily. "Did Miko convince you to do that?" He and Raf were laughing hard, and they were holding their stomachs in pain.

"Nah. It just happened. Earth food isn't _too _bad," she commented with a shrug, trying not to show how obviously she enjoyed eating it. Raf regarded her with a knowing look.

"You annihilated that food," he said, causing the four of them to laugh. Jack opened his mouth to say something, but the words died in his mouth when Sierra had approached the side of the table, next to Jack.

"Uh, Sierra! How are you?" he said awkwardly, smoothing his hair before embarrassedly removing his hand and shoving it into his pocket.

"Hi, Jack. I was wondering," she said smoothing a strand of hair to rest it behind her ear, "If you still wanted to go for a ride after school?" the cheerleading captain asked with her hands folded behind her back.

_Crap, I forgot about that._ After the incident with Arcee _and _Bumblebee, he swore never to joy ride with talking vehicles without said vehicle and Optimus' express permission. To add insult to injury, since Arcee was now human, he technically didn't own a vehicle. Talk about bad timing.

"Uh, Sierra, the thing is-"

"My motorcycle's in the shop," Arcee interrupted smoothly, crossing her arms from her seated position nonchalantly.

"Motorcycle..." Sierra mumbled before a realization came to her. "Jack, I thought that was your mom's?"

"Nope, it was mine," Arcee cut in again, Jack only managing to raise his index finger as though he was going to say something. Sierra's eyes widened a bit, as though remembering something.

"_Oh..._oh," she voiced. "Um, sorry Jack, I better go," she said rushedly, walking back to her friends at another cafeteria table. Miko, who was smiling at the exchange, was now grinning ear to ear, resting her chin on one hand, narrowing her eyes at Arcee.

"What?" Arcee asked, unsettled by Miko's intent stare. Miko only grinned more widely if that were possible.

"I see what's going on here. You're jealous aren't you, Arcee?" she accused, her grin never leaving her face. Arcee sputtered an answer, the only proof she needed.

"W-what...I don't-Am not! I saw her hanging out with Vince!" Arcee excused, turning her head away imperiously. Heat was rushing to her face, and even Raf could tell what was going on. Jack still felt he had to convey his disapproval.

"Arcee, we don't know what Sierra was doing hanging out with Vince. It could be a number of reasons!" he said with a defeated sigh. This was just getting too complicated for him. Hopefully, Sierra would still talk to him. He seriously needed to sort this out.

"F~ine," Arcee dragged out the word. "Sorry," she said with drooped shoulders.

"It's fine, I guess. I probably wouldn't have been able to explain my way out of it anyway," he said with a small laugh. Arcee half smiled, and Miko giggled again.

"Jeeeeealouuuuuusss," she drawled out, repeating the word.

"Shut up, Miko!" Arcee retorted, covering her face with her hands to hide the second blush threatening to betray her confused emotions.


	8. Chapter 8

Transformers Prime

"This is quite an ambitious goal you have set for yourself," a deep voiced man uttered from Old Snake's side.

"Indeed. But with this technology," he gestured to the lifeless cybertronian body that was laid out on a large berth. "I may finally create a seperate territory of my own. A government that I shall have total control over," he said with anticipation. Old Snake began to circle the large mechanical frame.

"We have already completed preliminary scans. Now we know what device does what. It will be only hours before we are able to remove the contraption that these beings use for shifting into vehicles," he claimed, turning his head towards the other man. Old Snake's face visor completely masked his visage and the taller man wondered just what was going through his mind at the moment.

"So, why summon me?"

Old Snake cackled in response before coughing momentarily. "It is simple, really. With this new Government, I shall ressurect the organization that the forsaken Optimus Prime had destroyed 23 years ago, with the help of that umbrella United States govt. With this! All of our weaponry will have the ability and instincts of a human being. I cannot rule effectively without a chain of command."

"Then I will be glad to offer my services. Trust me, I will have five-hundred soldiers here by the evening."

Old Snake could only scoff in amusement. "You should know me by now! I don't trust anyone!"

With that, the other man saluted and turned to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing. Destroy the synthoid. We don't need loose ends. Any chance for the body to be recovered by these transformers hurts our chances," Old Snake ordered without turning around. The taller man nodded slowly in acknowledgement before leaving wordlessly.

* * *

It was the next class in school, and Jack noticed that Arcee looked more down than usual. Not necessarily depressed, but she was wearing an eternal scowl on her face, resting a head on her hand as she watched the blackboard that the math teacher, Mr. John, was writing on.

"Arcee, you okay?" Jack whispered after leaning to his side a little bit. Arcee hadn't moved any to show that she heard him, but she still answered.

"Not really," she said shortly. Jack looked down at the ground momentarily, wondering if it was something he said.

"Look, if I sounded too mad in the cafeteria, sorry."

Arcee did look at him this time, and exhaled through her nose. "No, it's not you. Today's just been confusing for lack of a better word. And I still haven't heard word from Optimus about-"

"Ahem! Sadie, it seems you have something to say? Do you mind answerng this question on the board? Out of these three, which statement is true in regards to the Pythagorean theorem?"

All eyes looked to Sadie, who paid them no mind. A lot of the girls were looking at her with a smirk, thinking she was going to emberrass herself.

"It's the fourth choice. The 'C' squared is higher than the product of both numbers. 125 squared is 15,625," Arcee replied boredly only after looking at the equation at a glance. Everyone was looking at her with dropped jaws, including the instructor.

"I, well..." Said math instructor glanced at the teachers' edition mathbook he was using. Narrowing his eyes in disbelief at the page, it confirmed everything she said.

"Hm. That is correct...well, no talking in class!" he said almost lamely, continuing his lesson with a scoff. Many of the students at the back began to giggle and laugh at the teacher's response.

"How did you do that?" Jack asked unbelievingly.

"Cybertron, Jack. This math isn't even basic for us," she said with a half smile. Almost immediately, Arcee's new phone began to ring.

"Teach, I have to answer this, i'll be right back," she said, not looking at the instructor as she made her way out of the classroom.

"W-wait, you need a hallpass!" The instructor replied in a rush. He put down his chalk and followed her outside the classroom with a spare agenda book. The moment the instructor left out of the room, the space exploded into conversation. Vince leaned forward in his desk to get a good glance through the door's window before making his way to Jack's desk.

"Ok, spill man! Where did you meet her?" the blonde teen asked desperately, sitting in the seat Arcee had just vacated.

"Uh," Jack stuttered, scratching his head. "What are you talking about? She's a friend of mine."

"That's some bull and you know it!" Vince retorted, leaning forward quickly to glance at the window to make sure no one was coming back through the door.

"She's your girlfriend isn't she?"

"What!? I don't-"

"She isn't? Dude, is she into sports cars?," Vince questioned urgently. He didn't notice Jack roll his eyes when he had glanced at the door window again.

"Vince, I know what you're trying to do. And now you're talking to me all of a sudden? I thought I was the loser with a dumpy car? Why would I tell you anything?" Jack demanded. He laughed inwardly at Vince's obvious jealousy.

"Alright, alright, fine. To impress her, you'll need to be..." Jack thought for a moment. What _did _Arcee like? Fighting was a given. Speed, maybe?

"You have a motorcycle?" Jack asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah...I got two." Vince replied, not getting where he was going with his line of conversation. That works out, Jack guessed.

"Let her use one of your motorcycles. She hasn't used one in a while," Jack suggested. Vince nodded, thinking it over. With a smile, he clapped both hands on Jack's shoulder excitedly.

"Thanks, man! Darby, you're the best!" He exclaimed before retreating back to his seat.

* * *

"You did _what_?" Arcee asked harshly.

"Relax, Arcee! I have to go to work now, anyway. You would have been bored out of your mind waiting for my shift to end."

Arcee shook her head dissapprovingly. "Jack, Optimus said we have to stick together." Jack laughed and shook his head knowingly.

"Arcee, when have you _always _followed what he said exactly?" He asked frankly. Arcee paused at her finger pointing and stood straight with a scowl.

"Fine, fine. I don't always obey field commands," she confessed with her arms crossed. "But I've always had good reason! This situation doesn't count."

"Arcee, just roll with it. Besides, you get the chance to know what it's like to ride the motorcyle rather than be one," Jack pitched with a shrug of his shoulders. Arcee scrutinized him with narowed eyes, before relenting.

"Okay, fine, whatever," Arcee relented wth a dismissive sideways gesture with her hand. "But only this once," she added, causing Jack to roll her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Go have fun. I need to get ready for my shift so...see ya later," Jack replied, offering his hand for a professional handshake. Arcee smiled and reciprocated the gesture, then pulled him into a hug. He was surprised initially, but returned the hug before letting go awkwardly.

"Just thought I'd do that. Haven't actually hugged you before," Arcee stated with a wink. Jack's face flushed only momentarily, before he cleared his throat deliberately.

"Uh, right. Well, I need to get ready for my shift. See you later," Jack said while waving. He then ran off to the side of the building where he'd meet up with Bulkhead., Miko, and Raf.

"Well, time for my date," Arcee muttered sarcastically with aan eye roll.

* * *

::Bumblebee, stay alert. If there is outstanding danger, do not hesitate to request a GroundBridge::

Bumblebee replied with a dismissive beep, assurring Optimus he would be fine. His Urbana 500 vehicle form cruised along the dock's driveway, then he came to a stop at the edge of a stack of barrels where an abandoned wooden bat lay. He ignored it and kept on the lookout for a group of motorcycle enthusiasts.

True to his prediction, a group of motorcyclists drove into the docking area across from him. They began to talk to eachother for a few moments and then a minivan rolled into view. The motorists ceased their conversations and surrounded the vehicle, the drivers getting out, wearing similar clothing to the motorists.

Bumblebee voiced a string of sounds through his internal comm.

::Good Work, Bumblebee, you have the go ahead to tail them:: Optimus replied to Bumblebee's report. Inside the minivan was another cache of Neutronium, matching the description Optimus gave to him in his briefing. These were the same people who had stole Arcee's body. Beeping softly to himself, he slowly began to follow behind the minivan, careful not to alert the criminals to his presence. _Hang on_, Bumblebee beeped to himself, _I'm gonna get your frame back._


	9. Chapter 9

Transformers Prime

"So? How do you like the ride?"

Arcee was tempted to tell him to just frag off, but she was curious to know what it felt like to be _on _a motorcycle rather than _being _one. Arcee had to admit, the motorcycle was very stylish. If anything, it almost looked like her, or rather, former alt. mode.

"It's...nice," Arcee said. She pushed the kickstand off the motorcycle and tested her weight on it. It felt weird, for lack of a better word. Maybe surreal. So this is how Jack feels when she gives him rides in her alt. mode. She tried to ignore the fact that the seat was where her thigh would be.

Experimentally, she twisted the bike's handles, revving the engine two times, then a third for good measure. Looking up from the vehicle to the road, there was much open space and plenty of lanes to drive in. Coincidentally, this wasn't too far from Omega Outpost-One. Bulkhead and Optimus would figuratively be a stone's throw away.

"Not bad," she added, leaning forward on the motorcycle. It's color was black with orange trims splayed out on different parts. Not her ideal color choice, but she couldn't very well be judging, right?

Vince half-smiled in appreciation. Finally, a girl that was honest about his stuff. He hoped she was here to stay, at least for a while. The boy couldn't stop admiring her as she prepared to get ready to drive. He could hear romantic music in the background in his head, imagining himself getting ready to kiss those supermodel lips...

"Vince, snap out of it, we driving or what?"

Vince shook his head vigorously, willing away his impromptu daydream. Was he just fantasizing. That was odd. Girls were supposed to be fantasizing about _him._ Not the other way around.

"Uh, yeah, everything's cool," he assured, revving the engine of his almost identically colored motorcycle. Arcee turned back to the road and put on her helmet. Vince did the same and they finally sped off down the road.

* * *

"Welcome to K.O. Burger, how may I take your order?" Jack queried into his headset, succeeding at not sounding utterly bored out of his mind. He seriously needed this job. Might as well acted like he wanted it.

"Hi, Jack."

Jack's eyebrows shot up. "Sierra!" Jack fumbled with the audio on his headset to make sure he could be heard clearly through the device. "How's it hangin'?" He asked. He scoffed internally at himself almost immediately. What a lame way to say hi.

"Just wondering if you wanted to hang out some time?" came the girl's reply over the intercom. Jack couldn't suppress his smile. Was Sierra asking him to hang out? Man, this day couldn't get any better!

"Uh, sure Sierra! I get off work in about 4 min. actually. That okay?"

"Sure thing! Oh, and I'd like a number 7 with a lemonade, please!"

"Comin' right up!" Jack replied enthusiastically, but trying not to sound too eager. He prepared the meal, and exchanged it to Sierra who paid for it with a wave in the passenger's seat of one her girlfriend's car.

After his shift, true to her word, Sierra was waiting at a table at the side of the restaurant. Jack walked over and slid into a seat directly across the table.

"So, what's up? Didn't fancy you as the type to hang out at a burger joint," Jack asked in mock seriousness.

"No, no," Sierra sad in between light laughter. "Just wanted to talk."

Jack's smile dropped. "Talk? About what?" Sierra's hands were on the table, and she was twiddling her thumbs in nervousness. She looked away momentarily to avoid eye contact.

"Are you and Sadie, you know...in a relationship?" Sierra asked, pressing her thumbs together in anticipation to his response. This was the first time that Jack had seen the leader of the cheerleading squad looking the slightest bit uncertain.

"Nah. She's just a friend of mine that I know. I'm acquainted with the family," Jack dismissed, feeling slightly guitly at the way he worded it. Sure, there was nothing going on, but he felt like he said something..._wrong_ somehow. Sierra's smile put his internal worries to ease in a heartbeat though.

"Oh." Sierra wanted to ask if the person he claimed to had been his mom that time here at the restaurant was Sadie, but dropped it before she even asked. He said there was nothing going on and that was enough for her to accept. "Do you," Sierra thumbed a stray strand of hair unconsciously, "Want to be my date this Friday at the school dance?" She asked hopefully. Jack smiled almost instantly.

"Of course!" he said with a laugh. "I would love to!" Jack almost jumped out of his seat in excitement. He'd get to dance with the leader of the _Cheerleading Squad!_ The rest of this week would be interesting indeed. Sierra rested a hand on Jack's and nodded her head. Jack felt heat rising to his face.

"Thank you! I have to go. I don't want to keep my friend waiting," she said, lightly jerking her head to the car's direction, before releasing her hand and jogging over to the car.

"This is awesome," Jack analyzed past events as he picked up his bookbag and headed to the spot where Arcee and Vince would be hanging out in the car that his mother was letting him borrow.

* * *

When Jack got to the freeway that Arcee and Vince were at, he didn't expect them to be hitting it off quite nicely. Both Vince and Arcee were leaning on the same side of the same motorcycle, and conversing. Jack noticed Arcee actually laugh at something he said.

"Didn't actually expect them to become best friends," Jack mumbled in hindsight as he exited the car and made his way over to them.

"How's it goin', Darby. Sadie here was telling me about the awesome tricks she's pulled with her own motorcycle," Vince said, smiling at some hidden joke. Arcee returned the smile before turning to Jack.

"Riding a motorcycle _is _fun," She added. Jack couldn't help but feel just a small pang of jealousy. She'd never had fun like that with him, he thought momentarily. But she also wasn't the same size as him either, he added rationally to himself.

"That's great, Sadie. Glad the both of you had fun," Darby congratulated half-heartedly. Vince nodded once enthusiastically, oblivious to Jack's non-sincereness. Arcee gave Vince a small hug, which he returned, before clapping Jack on the back.

"Let's go, partner. I'm actually tired," Arcee yawned, stepping into the car. Jack waved a bye to Vince and made his way to the car as well. Slipping into the driver's seat, he glanced at Arcee strapping in the seat belt.

"So...You and Vince. Hugging," Jack stated as he started the car. Arcee gave him a confused look, and leaned her right arm on the armrest of the internal door frame.

"Yeah, so? You humans hug all the time," Arcee retorted, still looking at Jack with a puzzled expression. Jack must have noticed it, because he attempted to dismiss her confusion.

"No reason."

"What are you so high-strung about? You wanted me to hang out with him anyway." Arcee's retort was urging Jack to roll his eyes, but he didn't. He didn't know why he was being so irrational right now anyway.

"Besides, I thought you were talking to _Sierra_," Arcee drawled, not even trying to mask the sarcasm in her tone. Seemed like Arcee was being irrational about _something_, also.

"Yeah, I happen to like her," Jack retorted defensively. "She's a cool girl!" he continued, straining to keep focus on the road. Arcee's sarcastic comments weren't making it easy, trust and believe.

"And _I'm _not cool?"

"What was that?" Jack asked, inclining his head slightly towards her, but not taking his eyes off the road.

"Nothing," Arcee said quickly. "I'm hanging out with him tomorrow," Arcee added, glancing sidelong at him to gauge his reaction. Jack's eyes widened as quickly as he returned to a blank expression.

"Well, i'm going to the school dance with Sierra on Friday," he blurted. This time, Arcee scowled at Jack and didn't even bother to hide it. She pointedly looked away and out through the window. The car came to a stop in front of the Darby's house's garage.

"Look, Arcee," he began after he turned the car off. Now he felt like a jerk. "I-"

"Going to bed. You're going to need your rest for your _date_," Arcee interrupted somewhat scathingly as she pushed past him and into the house.

Jackson Darby sighed with his head hung low.

He felt like such a prick.


	10. Chapter 10

Transformers Prime

Jack felt like a complete jerk. On the way to school, Arcee pointedly ignored Jack. Even Raf knew something was going on between Jack and Arcee. He chose not to say anything though. He didn't want Arcee giving him the glare that he kept pointing at Darby. Bulkhead, who was driving them over to the school even asked if Arcee was feeling okay. She dismissed it and he let it drop. Once everybody got out of Bulkhead's alt. mode at the front of the school, Miko pulled Jack to the side.

"Okay, smooth operator, what did you do?" She asked accusingly. Arcee and Raf were already walking up the stairs into the school with the other student arrivals.

"I didn't do _anything_!" Jack said in defense. His reply was only half-hearted. He had an idea of what he did, but didn't want to voice it. Miko wasn't buying it and crossed her arms, irritated with Jack.

"Arcee likes you! Stop being such a _manuke_!" Miko demanded, jabbing her finger at his chest. Jack had no idea wat that meant, but it sounded insulting.

"Miko! Arcee is a giant robot! It would never work!" he reasoned, spreading his arms to emphasize the absurdness of the situation.

"Who cares. And you never denied it! Just stop acting distant. You at least owe her that much," Miko retorted, sounding like she was scolding someone years younger than her.

Miko was right. He _didn't _deny it. He did like Arcee but...she was a robot that was _at least_ 15 heads taller than him. Jack sighed and scratched his head. He was looking down at the ground when he heard Miko clear her throat in annoyance.

"Well?"

"Okay! I'll apologize!"

Miko scowled at him, unsatisfied with his answer. Jack's shoulders sagged in defeat. "I'll ask her if she wants to hang out or something," Jack grumbled and Miko nodded approvingly.

"That's better," Miko said somewhat condescendingly with a smile. Jack blanked his expression to show his annoyance. She only laughed and the both of them walked into their class.

* * *

It was finally Gym class, and Jack felt this was his chance to set things straight. Since Sierra was in Cheerleading squad, she completed gym during her freshman year.

Fortunately, that meant she wouldn't be in here. Today's gym lesson was going to be jogging and running, so he hoped he'd have the chance to talk to Arcee. After the necessary warm-ups, everyone went outside to the track to do the laps. Once everyone started off, Jack sprinted a bit to catch up with Arcee.

"Arcee, look. I'm sorry about yesterday."

Arcee didn't respond, and just continued to run at her even pace. This was getting nowhere. Looks like apologizing wasn't going to cut it.

"Look, I admit it. I was...jealous," Jack said clearly, sincerely hoping he didn't have to repeat it. Jack was a good runner, but Arcee seemed better at it, which was kind of annoying him. He was beginning to inhale and exhale quicker, while Arcee was barely breathing hard at all. After his confession, Arcee finally glanced at him. They had crossed the lap line, and they took a break at the sidelines in the grass. She rested her elbows on the fence while Jack was struggling to get his breath under control, hands on knees. The girl next to him sighed.

"I was kind of...jealous too."

Jack looked at her, surprised by her answer. The thought crossed his mind, but to hear her say it still made it sound like a revelation. With his heart no longer trying to break out of ribs from adrenaline, Jack leaned backwards on the fence. How would he word his next sentence? Would she even bother to consider the words. Well, he's escaped a giant warship full of bloodthirsty Decepticons, he could risk it.

"Arcee, I need to tell you something," he said looking directly at her. When she looked at him though, he quickly broke eye contact.

"Yeah?" she asked knowingly. Jack wondered if she knew what he was about to say.

"I-"

Both Jack and Arcee turned quickly to the sound of motorcycle engines roaring through the space behind the school. Seconds later, shouts and screams sould be heard.

"It'll have to wait, something's going on," Arcee suggested. All the students that were at the track began to run to the side of the building, with the Gym coach directing most of them away from the motor sounds that were getting louder.

"What the heck?" Jack asked, dumbfounded. Seven motorcycles were careening towards the track. The students that were there with Jack and Arcee were already a good distance away at the school. Then the craziness started. The seven motorcycles neared the two and began circling them.

"Jack, stay behind me," Arcee warned. The motorcycles' engines roared menacingly, as if waiting for them to try to run through the circle of bikes.

"When I say so, jump over the motorcycle in front of you."

Jack was confused as to what was going on. What did these motorcyclists want with them? On the side of the bikes' frames, he noticed a strange King Cobra symbol. Were they some kind of gang? "Arcee, wh-"

"Go!" Arcee interrupted, running straight for one of the motorcycles. Jack gulped and followed suit. Arcee hurdled over the back end of a motorcycle and Jack did the same. They continued to run past the track and to the opposite side of the school that no one had ran through. Stopping at the corner, Arcee looked behind it, and watched the motorcycles. They had turned and began to follow them to their hiding place.

"We need to break off into an alley. We can lose them there," the blue and pink haired older one said, grabbing Jack's forearm. Darby was ready to protest, but it died in his throat after she broke off into a run, dragging him behind her. The motorcycles had just reached the spot they had recently vacated and continued to follow them. Once Arcee and Jack reached a nearby alleyway, Arcee and Jack took a breather.

"Are they some sort of gang? What's going on?"

"I don't know. But I think it has something to do with me. Why would a gang be coming after us all of a sudden?"

Jack didn't have time to respond. An engine sounded from the opposite end of the alley, and a motorcycle steered into it.

"No way," Arcee muttered with clenched teeth. Jack looked at where she was glaring and was just as surprised.

"There's-There's no rider."

As quickly as Jack observed the situation, the motorcycle jerked suddenly, before plates began to rearrange themselves. The customary transforming sound accompanied the grind of sliding metal, before where once stood a motorcycle, was an altered appearance of Arcee's body. The Arcee imposter activated it's gun arms and pointed them dangerously at the both of them. Rather than the usual paintjob that Arcee's armor had, this one's armor color was a dark reflective black, with orange trims. The King Cobra symbol was set on the top corner of the robot's right chest plate.

"D-decepticons?" Jack asked, causing Arcee to shake her head. More engines could be heard, and the seven motorcycles that had followed them appeared behind them and subsequently shifted into more Arcee look alikes, with the same dark armor.

"The people who stole my body. They cloned me. They're here to destroy the original. Me."

The even doppelgangers behind Jack and Arcee also cocked their gun arms at them.

"Where's Optimus when you need him," Jack muttered under his breath.


	11. Chapter 11

Transformers Prime

Jack swallowed nervously. Here he stood with Arcee, now humanized. Surrounding them on both sides of the alleyway was at least one of the Arcee doppelganger robots. One in the direction they were facing, and seven more behind them.

"Our only chance is try to get a hold of base..." Jack said to Arcee. He had steadily reached in his own pocket to grab his phone. His hope died when he neared the phone to his ear. Somehow it got shot right out of his hand. With a clatter, the phone lay there, useless and smoldering on the ground.

"Don't think so."

Both Arcee and Jack adopted a shocked expression. They could talk too? How was that possible?

"Okay, this is all kinds of weird. They sound just like you," Jack muttered under his breath. One of the Arcee duplicates reverted to motorcycle form and ordered them to get on.

"Should we?"

Arcee nodded. The duplicates didn't know that she had her own phone within the fold of her pocket. As she sat on the seat, she tapped a button through the pocket and activated a tracking signal. Hopefully Bulkhead, or even Optimus himself, or better yet, both of them would be able to rescue them in time. Jack took a seat behind her and then the rest of the clones shifted back to motorcycle form. The sight would be peculiar. Arcee and Jack on one motorcycle, being escorted by what looked like a large gang of thugs. But the other riders were merely holoforms. Apparently, these mysterious people managed to reverse engineer her body.

"I don't get it. How are these robots different from Nemesis Prime? They seem to be able to talk and act on their own," Jack asked from his position directly behind Arcee.

"I don't know, Jack. I'm not sure if they're completely sentient, or just programmed with personalities."

Jack didn't respond, so the rest of their ride to who knows where was quiet, albeit the occasional roar of one of the motorcycle's engines. Arcee glanced every now and then at her surroundings. She had noticed early on that they were going the direction opposite of Autobot Outpost Omega-One, but she wasn't worried by too much. GroundBridges helped alleviate any concerns she had about distance. In every direction, it was the lethargic scenery of craggy ground and the occasional cactus.

Several times, the Arcee-clone they were on sped up along with the others, causing Jack to instinctively tighten his hold on her waist and making her face flush. Ignoring the otherwise pleasant feeling, she kept a lookout of their travel route, just in case they were able to make an escape before any of the Autobots would manage to rescue them in time. This went on for several more minutes until a large warehouse appeared in the distance. As opposed to the previous warehouse she had been to with Bumblebee, this particular building was secluded, being the only sign of civilization for several miles.

"Get off," the motorcycle ordered. Arcee and Jack complied, then all eight of the robots reverted to biped form. One of them grabbed both of them roughly and all of them walked into the front of the building.

"It's that King Cobra symbol," Jack noticed as they were being carried closer to the building. The structure was larger than it had looked. Up close and personal, the building was impressively tall, being large enough to apparently accommodate cybertronian-sized beings. The symbol mentioned by Jack was placed in a line along both walls, the Cobra depicted in front view, as though leaping towards the viewer.

"Ah," a voice sounded. The Arcee clones stopped their walking and the one holding the two humans dropped them roughly on the ground.

"I see you have become...acquainted...with our new war weapons," a deep voiced man chided, walking up to them. Arcee got up quickly and help Jack up.

"Who are you?" Arcee demanded, inciting a chuckle from the man.

"Who I am doesnot concern you. You will not be alive to reflect on the knowledge," he said, dismissing her statement and beginning to walk down the hall to another room. One of the Autobot-Clones nudged them forward with her steel foot. One they entered the room, they noticed that the floor was steel plated.

"We can't very well kill and leave behind evidence, now can we?" a new voice asked, amused.

"Arcee, I hope you have a plan?" Jack mumbled in Arcee's ear. It was one thing for giant robots to be gunning for you, but it was just plain unsettling to see humans willing to kill other humans. To Jack's surprise, Arcee smirked.

"Don't worry. I've got this under control."

Jack wasn't convinced, but Arcee sounded _very _confident.

"So. I'm already displaced out of my chassis. Seems kind of weak to kill me now," Arcee remarked snidely with a shrug.

"Please. I did not care for morals even in young age. Ladies?"

The robots that were behind Jack and Arcee suddenly trained their guns on the two.

"Any last words?" the deep voiced man next to the visored one asked.

"Yeah. Optimus."

Suddenly, a GroundBridge activated in front of the robots and behind Arcee and Jack. Optimus Prime, Smokescreen, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee leaped out of the portal and attacked the Arcee clones. An all out brawl started and the two mysterious men had retreated into the shadows of another room silently.

Guys! Am I glad you're all here!" Jack exclaimed, running for shelter behind a counter. Arcee followed, and they watched as the Autobots fought against the doppelgangers. Turning on her phone, Arcee shouted into it.

"Bumblebee, see if you can find my body. It should be in here somewhere!"

An affirmative chirp sounded through the phone's speaker and the yellow scout sprinted through the hall with a device on his hand.

"How do you know he'll find it?" Jack turned to her and asked. She smiled knowingly.

"Even though these robots may have my skills and likeness, they're framework are of earth origin. They wouldn't show up on a cybertronian scanner. It's one of the reasons we haven't attracted the attention of any Decepticons. That's how I found out," Arcee replied.

Jack nodded in understanding. On several occassions they had to duck instinctively as a stray blast crashed into the table, spraying debris over their heads. "Wait a minute. Where did those two people go? Seems too easy for it to be be just eight of your clones."

And Murphy's Law decided to materialize at that very moment. Suddenly, dozens of Arcees with the same black and orange color scheme rushed through a doorway to attack the Autobots.

"Bumblebee, did you find it!?" Arcee shouted into her phone. There was an unsettling silence before an affirmative chirped through the speaker. Arcee beckoned Jack over and they rushed through the hall that Bumblebee had made his way through. This room was darker than the hallway that the Autobots were fighting in. Crashes and blasts could still be heard even from in here.

Bumblebee chirped to get their attention, pointing to a berth with a cybertronian body on it.

"There it is," Arcee whispered, sounding almost mystified. Jack rested a hand on her shoulder and nodded encouragingly. Bumblebee chirped something else, and pointed to a double cylinder chamber. Bumblebee explained that Ratchet ordered him to bring a cortical psychic patch, which he showed to them before connecting it to the cylinders' base.

Arcee took a step towards the chamber before stopping.

"Arcee? You okay?" Jack asked in concern. She was standing there as if arguing with herself over something. She turned around and pulled him into a hug.

"Thanks. For everything." She said simply. Then to his surprise, Arcee pulled him into a deep kiss. Jack's eyes widened into saucers and Arcee broke the kiss before he could process what just happened. Arcee smiled at him before running into the chamber. Jack stood there with his jaw slightly ajar in suprise. Bumblebee laughed knowingly in his digital code before activating the chamber. Bumblee quickly picked up Arcee's cybertronian body and gently placed it in the vacant cylinder.

"Woah," was all Jack could say.

* * *

The deep voiced man chuckled knowingly as he sat inside of the large transport vehicle. The advanced systems of the transport silenced any noise that the engine would make. Old Snake was reading over a dossier, occasionally making a "hm" noise as he sat in his swivel chair.

"You had me fooled initially, to think that your plan was to destroy these Autobots," the man continued. His unusual metal skin reflected some of the dim lights coming from the ceiling of the transport.

"That is a foolish undertaking," Old Snake uttered with a laugh. "If that were my plan, and had I actually the ability to do so, we would still have the Decepticons to deal with. Personally, I'd like the Autobots to be an insurance policy were we to ever have a run in with Megatron. Why do you think that bucket-head has such an amnesty of humans? Hm?" he explained, finally closing the dossier.

"We have what we came for anyway. The point was not to destroy them, but to acquire their technology, which we already have from the one called Arcee. And now we have more templates that we can use from those other transforming contraptions. Now, Destro," he said, looking back at the man again. "The Resurrection of this military can finally come to fruition."

Old Snake looked out the window of the large transport vehicle. Behind him was a caravan of dozens of military grade transports behind and in front of him. Then he began to cackle in triumph.

"Finally. The rise!" he began, walking back inside of the vehicle. "Of COBRA-" His tirade was cut short by hacks and coughs. "My age is catching up with me. Luckily we have technology to compensate for that too," he concluded with a clearing of his throat. "Destro, if you will, have one of the men fetch me a cup of iced tea."

"As you command, Cobra Commander."


	12. Chapter 12

Transformers Prime

Moments after Arcee had disappeared along with Jack and Bumblebee, Prime and the rest of the team did their best to keep the Arcee clones from reaching the room the yellow scout had escorted the two humans to.

"Bulkhead, cover the perimeter!" Optimus ordered. While Bulkhead dashed over to the exposed doorway, Optimus fended off three doppelgangers simultaneously. Using his Energon blasters, he shot at them to make sure they would not get too close, and if they did, they became acquainted with his knuckled fist.

Optimus took a deep breath of air he didn't need. Arcee had told them that they were no sentient, and instead programmed with personality chips. Not truly sentient. So without the limitation of fighting a sentient, he did not hold back as he activated his arm sword.

Bulkhead did the same, making sure to occasionally focus on the doorway to make sure none of the doppelgangers get past.

"This is the weirdest day of my life," Bulkhead commented, sent reeling from a jumpkick by one of the clones. "These things fight almost as well as Arcee!" he exclaimed, catching one by the leg who attempted to perform another kick to his face. Reeling his free hand back, he shifted it into a wrecking ball and crashed it into the hapless clone. As she went flying, several other clones that were fighting Bulkhead hesitated a moment before running towards him.

Optimus did not respond immediately, facing off against three last remaining clones. Two of them managed to leap onto his back, causing him to drop to on knee. Before he could react, the third stepped in front of him and aimed the Energon blaster at his chest.

"Boss-bot! Look out!" Bulkhead yelled, charging towards the doppelganger aiming at Optimus.

"Attack me and I shoot," the Arcee clone threatened, powering up her gun. While an Energon blaster of that size would do minimal damage at most, it was risky for a shot to be launched point blank at his chest. If he survived it, he could still wound up gravely injured.

"Give me the matrix," she demanded.

Optimus' optics widened then narrowed in suspicion. How did a human's creation know of the Matrix of Leadership?

"You would not be able to grasp it's power," the prime whispered truthfully. Whoever this doppelganger was created by, knew of Cybertronian relics, or at least of the Matrix. The clone grimaced before reaching for his chest. Before she could steal the relic out of his chassis, the matrix reacted violently, it's bubble of energy shocking her hand. Then an energon blast hit her square in the chest, immobilizing her.

"Missed me?" Arcee, the real deal, said with a smirk. Optimus looked away from the apparently lifeless doppelganger to see the real Arcee, blue chassis with pink trim, and a smoking barrel on one of her arms. Optimus acted quickly and shot both of the clones that were behind him, smoking holes on both of their chests as they dropped to the ground.

"Thanks for the save," Bulkhead uttered appreciatively and Optimus nodded in agreement. Arcee nodded with a smile and jogged over to where they were.

"Didn't think any of them would get the drop on you," she said to Optimus, a hand on her hip. Optimus only sighed tiredly, slowly rising from his kneeling position.

"They _are _clones of you," he remarked offhandedly, earning a chuckle from Arcee. Optimus tapped one of his audio receptors to call for a GroundBridge.

Bulkhead stood there with a shocked expression on his face. "Arcee. Did he just make a funny?"

Arcee shook her head at Bulkhead's silliness and noticed Bumblebee with Jack and her human and now effectively brain-dead body in his palm.

"Good to be back?" Jack asked with a knowing smile. Arcee nodded with a cheerful smirk.

"Good to be back."

Jack's expression turned thoughtful and he looked at the human body as Bumblebee set them down.

"So what happens to your..._other _body now?" Jack asked, an unreadable expression on his face. Arcee looked at the body with a critical eye before shrugging.

"I don't know, but we can't just leave it...her here," she explained, glancing at Optimus before returning her gaze to Jack. "Even though that body is effectively brain-dead, it's technically still alive. We're bringing her with us until we can figure something out."

Jack nodded and the Arcee transformed into her alt. mode. Arcee sighed pleasantly as though she was on an oil bath on Cybertron.

"You have no idea how good it feels to be able to transform again," she stated, making Jack laugh lightly in response.

"I'll bet," he replied, striding over to sit on the motorcycle's seat. Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Optimus remained in their biped forms, with Bumblebee gently carrying Arcee's human body.

"Uh, Arcee...About what happened right before you went into the chamber..." Jack ventured.

"Yeah."

Arcee wasn't bothering to elaborate. The GroundBridge materialized and Arcee and Jack were the first to drive through. While driving through the portal's tunnel, Jack egged on, hoping to spark a response.

"I mean, if it was a spur of the moment kind of thing, I totally understand," Jack continued. Arcee still didn't say anything until after they entered through the portal.

Shifting back into biped mode, she offered her hand and Jack climbed atop it. She walked over to the hallway so they could have some privacy. She kneeled down, and Jack got off her hand to regard her.

"Look," Arcee sighed. "I..." Arcee hesitated a moment, gliding her hand down the back of her head to her neck cables in a very human gesture.

"After these past days, i've learned to like you...a lot. It was different before, I mean we were just partners, but now, after living in a human's shoes," she said, pausing for a second. "It's been real fun." She said. Jack looked down at the ground, not making eye contact. "Sorry if it was sudden."

"No! No," Jack assured. "The thing is, when we got interrupted by that Cobra gang, I was going to say," Jack hesitated and scratched the back of his head. "I...like you too," he replied, looking her directly in the eye. Arcee half smiled in response. She picked him up and pecked him on the cheek.

"Thanks. Partner."

After he was set down again, Jack scrathed the crown of his head with it hung low. "Okay. Thing is...how is this gonna work," Jack asked. He kind of accepted the situation for how it was, but he had to ask.

"I mean, you being a giant robot, me being an ant in comparison," he rambled. "Maybe a beetle."

"Well maybe now we have a use for the synthoid body after all," she said knowingly. Jack inhaled in surprise.

"Oh yeah." Then something else crossed Jack's mind. "The dance!" He had forgot in all the confusion.

"I. I had told Sierra I was going to go to the dance with her..." Jack said apologetically. Arcee smiled nevertheless.

"Go ahead and dance with her tomorrow. After all, you don't want to break a promise," she said encouragingly.

"Thanks, Arcee. Maybe we could have our own dance afterwards?"

"Why not?" she said, finally walking back to the commons room.

* * *

"Optimus. Why did you bring that thing?" Arcee asked in confusion. Lying prone on one of the berths was one of the Arcee doppelgangers.

"It had reacted strangely to the Matrix," he explained. "Or, the Matrix, to it."

"It is pertinent that we discover how the Matrix affected it, and why," Ratchet clarified, typing a few commands on the monitor. Arcee gazed at the clone of her for a few moments, unsettled by it's presence in a way she couldn't explain. Maybe it was just paranoia. This whole situation was unreal anyway.

It had been a few hours after school, and Jack had enjoyed his dance with Sierra. Even though he still held some affection for her, he held the same for Arcee too. Fortunately, Sierra still agreed to being friends with him after his explanation of not quite being ready.

Right now, Arcee and Jack were sitting on the cliff above the Missile Silo, enjoying the view.

"So the body was techno-organic?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Yeah. So it doesn't age. I've taken a liking to it. I have a better idea of what it's like to be a human, although I wouldn't know what the stuff tastes like unless I was in the body."

"That's great, Arcee," Jack congratulated, clearly impressed. "You still want to dance? You and me, as humans, just once?"

"You know Jack, there are other things we could do with it," she suggested with a mischievous smirk.

"Woah, Arcee. I'm only sixteen. I'm too young for that stuff. Let's take it slow," Jack said in a rush, willing his face to cease it's flushing. Arcee only laughed in high spirits.

"Only joking. A bit. Come on, let's go do that dance," she replied, walking back to the large lift that would take them back into the base.

* * *

"I have put the doppelganger frame into storage," Optimus announced to Ratchet. Ratchet nodded his acknowledgement, not turning from his findings on the computer.

"Optimus. You were right. It seems that the Matrix's violent reaction to whatever the clone did has changed it somehow," The medic said, beckoning Optimus to come closer.

On the monitor was CNA scans of of the doppelganger that Ratchet was able to accrue.

"Even though CNA is an exact match of Arcee's, initially, the metal that made up the clone's framework was completely of Earth Origin."

"What does this suggest," Optimus urged, regarding the findings with narrowed optics.

"The matrix has altered the framework of the clone. All of it's biomaterial is being changed drastically into Cybertronian alloys. All of the Earthen metal in it's body, Steel, Iron...it's being converted into Cybertronuron," Ratchet concluded.

"It's genetics is becoming completely Cybertronian," Optimus said in realization. Unbeknownst to them in the relic hall however, the clone they were speaking of was awakening for the first time. Fingers twitched occassionally. For the first time, the clone was not merely a lifeless copy with programming. It was becoming sentient.

Then it's optics opened.

To Be Continued

**A/N: For the sequel, read The Razor's Edge, which I will publish either today or tomorrow, so look out on my Profile page. If you hadn't noticed, the Cobra Organization was what was showing up in the story. They will *Maybe* show up in the sequel, but I don't know. **

**Okay, I decided to make a sequel to this story. It will explain that little cliffhanger at the end. I got the idea after reading about a certain existing transformer. So no, it's not going be an OC. Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

Transformers Prime

**A/N: Okay, I added to the title name. This will be the second arc of the story. COBRA may or may not show up later. And Yes, I wanted an excuse to have Airachnid in the story. Don't like? Review anyway.**

She grasped her forehead, the pain in her mind...processor..._whatever,_ becoming too much. Forcing herself to look around despite the aches in her head, she saw only four dark corners. The room was barely lit, the only light coming from a slit in the only door. To her surprise, readings started flashing across her optics. Percentages, level readings, and the occasional command. Something about low ''Energon'' levels?

"Urg..." She breathed. It felt like she had never used her own mouth before. But yet she felt as though she did _something _before today. Blinking away the now dulling ache, she attempted to stand from her prone position.

"Where am I," she questioned to open air. She stepped forward, desperately feeling along the wall for some control or button to get out of the strange room. Was she a prisoner to something, someone? She reared her hand back, ready to punch the door in anger when something unexpected happened.

A sword unsheathed from under her forearm.

Jumping backwards in surprise, she slowly turned her right arm over, inspecting the strange protrusion. The blade was sharp and looked as though it could cut through strong metals. It's position on her arm was like that of a baton. She looked at the blade for several moments before deciding to try something. Thrusting the blade toward the door, she tore open a hole which she could comfortably traverse through. No sooner had she cut open the door that Klaxons sounded through the hallway.

Was this a prison? What had she been doing? She couldn't remember _anything_ before waking up. She decided that she should hurry and get out of wherever...here was. Stumbling along the hallway, she ached to know why she couldn't remember anything. All she had to go by was a cobra image embedded into her chestplate. Ignoring it for the moment, she looked through the windows of the adjacent doors to see if their was an exit.

There were just strange devices lying in each of these rooms, some purpose she was unaware of. Except one.

Narrowing her optics at the window slit, she could see someone in there. Inside of a pod.

"You think it was Starscream? He got in here before."

Jumping at the sound of the voice, she was hard pressed to find a hiding spot. The dialogue was nearing where she stood, and she pressed her back against the door she was just looking at. With a whoosh, it gave way and opened quickly. After stumbling inside, the door quickly closed. Looking through the window, she could see a Red and White robot along with an impressively taller one. Both were rushing towards the room she just vacated. Deciding not to pay them any mind at the moment, she turned back to look at the pod.

Purple optics were frozen in some unreadable expression. Perhaps, shock or fear, she didn't know. Her presence cemented the thought in her mind that this was some sort of prison. Why else would she be held in there?

The femme walked over to the pod with the intent to free her. Maybe this other robot would be able to explain why she was here.

* * *

"Do you think it was Starscream?" Ratchet queried, running to the source of the Klaxon. Optimus followed behind with easy strides, not answering until they had neared the relic hall.

"I do not believe so. He would have no incentive to appear. And he still as of this moment does not know the base's location." Optimus looked at the doors and rested his eyes on the cybertronian sized hole in one of the doors.

"This is where the humans' drone was being held," Optimus observed, kneeling to better inspect the gash in the metal door.

"She has escaped from the room," Prime said stoically. He stood back up and examined the rest of the doors within the hall. The gash was made from the inside. There were no missing relics...

Optimus moved towards the space that Airachnid was confined in. Palming open the door on the electronic release, It's wall slid upwards and gave way, allowing Optimus toeasily examine the confines of the room.

"Airachnid is still in stasis...That's a relief," Ratchet commented with a resigned sigh. He rested his hand on the door's frame, idly surveying the room as Optimus stepped inside to look for any signs of recent occupation.

The taller mech slowly let his optics scan the whole room. There was no life signs except for the signal given off by the Stasis locked Airachnid. Narrowing his optics, he gazed one last time at the whole room, then turned to leave.

"Ratchet, most likely she has already left the confines of the base. We must locate her before the Decepticons," he said, now walking back towards the commons room. Ratchet narrowed his optics at Airachnid's pod before turning to leave as well.

From behind the pod, she steadily peeked her head from behind it to see 'Ratchet' just passing the doorframe back to where they had came from. Standing up quickly, she steeled herself and pressed a rather obvious panel on it's wall. Compressed atmosphere hissed from the slowly opening window of the pod, and it's occupant slowly began to fall towards the ground before bracing herself. The black/orange femme noticed that she had extra limbs protruding lazily from her back.

"Urggh..." the slightly taller spider-bot mumbled groggily. "That accursed Arcee," she continued, unaware of her unlikely rescuer's presence. "Fragging stasis pod..."

"Lady. I need your help. What is this place?"

Airachnid blinked her optics, as though unsettled by her presence. She slowly tilted her head in her direction, and in the blink of an eye, she had grasped Arcee's neck, a back limb pointed dangerously at one of her optics.

"You," Airachnid drawled dangerously. The limb glided closer to her optic.

but then she hesitated.

With a narrowed optic and a quizzical expression, Airachnid pulled back.

"You are not Arcee."

Was that her name? It sounded familiar. The shorter femme slowly massaged her neck, watching Airachnid warily. The spider-bot opened tore through the door without a second thought and kneeled down to examine the floor.

"Wait! You have to help me! I don't know where this place is."

Airachnid watched her with a shake of her head. Was she some neutral cybertronian? How did she even end up here? She wasn't callnig for anyone, so perhaps she was neither hostil or friendly.

"Well, I don't like to owe any one. Perhaps I do _have_ to thank you for rescuing me," the decepticon said sarcastically. She then transformed into her spider mode, allowing her back limbs to be her main support.

"Once we're out, you're on your own. Do try to keep up."

With that, Airachnid drilled into the ground, reactivating the Klaxons. Without hesitation, Arcee's clone jumped into the impromptu tunnel created by the strange Decepticon.


End file.
